"Is China a 'rogue donor'? Media reports about huge aid packages, support for pariah regimes, regiments of Chinese labor, and the ruthless countries in the world have sparked fierce debates. Beijing's tradition of secrecy fuels rumors and speculation, making it difficult to gauge the risks and opportunities in China's growing embrace. With vivid stories and new data, this well-timed book, by one of the world's leading experts, tackles the myths and the sometimes surprising realities."--P. [4] of cover.

Prologue: The changing face of Chinese engagement -- China's rise in Africa -- China and Africa: mutual benefit? -- Poverty and prosperity -- A different kind of "aid" -- China, aid and the West -- What is foreign aid? -- Why do countries give? -- 1. Missionaries and Maoists : how China's aid moved from "Red" to "Expert" -- Aid from the West -- Red Sun rising -- From Mau Mau to Mao -- "Dragon in the bush" -- Dazhai in Africa? - Tazara: the Tan-Zam Railway -- Rethinking aid -- 2. Feeling the stones : Deng Xiaoping's experiments with aid -- An "ideal trading partner" -- Crossing the river by feeling the stones -- Aid and the four tigers -- Zhao Ziyang goes to Africa -- Leather swaps: compensatory trade in Africa -- Being responsible "to the end" -- China, Melvin Lisk, and Okeky Agencies, Ltd. -- Aid as a springboard for investment -- Building business -- Tripartite cooperation -- "We are the world" -- Checkbook diplomacy -- 3. Going global : foreign aid in the toolkit of a rising China -- Battle in Seattle -- Deeper into Africa -- Value for money -- Entering Europe's backyard -- Zhu Rongji and the Tan-Zam Railway redux -- "Koni...Koni...Koni" -- Packaging soft power -- Dragon heads -- Creative destruction -- China-Africa development fund -- Tariff and quota-free entry -- Overseas zones: going global in groups -- The first two African winners -- Crossing the ocean by feeling the stones -- 4. Eastern promises : an aid system with Chinese characteristics -- A very brief history -- China's aid institutions -- China Eximbank's concessional loans -- The development bank that doesn't give aid -- Acupuncture at King Harmon Road -- Learning from China -- Humanitarian aid: after disaster -- China's "Peace Corps" -- Does China give "cash aid"? -- Dumping debt -- 5. Orient express : how does Chinese aid and engagement work? -- Beijing versus Paris -- An Oriental Big Power -- China Eximbank, Huawei, and Sierratel -- Learning from Japan's request-based system -- The Eximbank cycle -- From aid to profit: CNEEC consolidates Goma -- China's resource-backed infrastructure loans -- Aid without strings? -- Tied aid? -- "Hordes of experts" -- Capacity building -- 6. Apples and lychees : how much aid does China give? -- Estimating China's Africa aid -- One is aid, the other is not -- Package financing mode -- Big mistakes -- Is China bigger than the World Bank? -- Comparing apples and apples -- Will Chinese loans create a new debt crisis? -- 7. Flying geese, crouching tiger : China's changing role in African industrialization -- Challenges and opportunities -- Flying geese as industrial catalysts -- Marlboro Man -- Friendship Textile Factory's rock road -- Cars, calf, and cows -- Asian tigers and African factories -- "Original and Taiwan" -- 8. Asian Tsunami : how a tidal wave can also be a catalyst -- Leather goes global -- Textiles: a Chinese tsunami? -- Drivers of change? -- Catalyzing local industry -- Chinese workers in African factories -- 9. Exporting Green Revolution : from aid to Agribusiness -- Challenges and opportunities -- China's traditional aid -- Doing well by doing good? -- Wang Yibin and South-South cooperation -- From weeds to seeds -- The father of hybrid rice -- China's agrotechnology centers: sustainability and business -- 10. Foreign farmers : Chinese settlers in rural Africa -- Going global in agriculture -- Food security: China and Africa -- Mega-projects -- In the North, there is only Magbass -- Not a good chew on the bones -- Liu Jianjun's "Baoding Villages" -- 11. Rogue donor? : myths and realities -- "Chinese aid: it's all about oil / minerals / resources" -- "China enables Sudan to get away with murder in Darfur" -- "China hurts efforts to strengthen democracy and human rights in Africa" -- "Chinese support kept Robert Mugabe in power in Zimbabwe" -- "China is making corruption worse" -- "Chinese aid and loans are part of a system of 'unfair' subsidies" -- "China gains business with low environmental and social standards" -- Conclusion: Engaging China.